So Norris is joining Pompey. A club that is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a contender for promotion. Cotteril says their man has leadership qualities: not something that was ever evident during his tenure as the captain of Ipswich Town. Back in January he was completely non-committal on the subject of a new contract, saying he may look elsewhere in the summer and I quote 'so be it'. You can talk all you like about the security of an extra year on his contract, but the fact of the matter is that there's nothing secure about moving your family across the country. The whole thing just doesn't add up for me, I think the man has lost his marbles. And that ladies and gents is the problem with the Roy Keane era - the attitude of the players and the appointment of a captain who has no loyalty to or interest in the fortunes of the club. GMac has gone to play in the Prem, and fair play to him, but just what the hell is Norris playing at?
Job security - We offered him 2 years, Pompey offered 3. He's coming into his twilight years in terms of football and he wants to earn as much as possible for as long as possible prior to retirement. Lets face it he was a fairly average AM which we paid over the odds for, we didn't return anything from our investment but we must learn and move on. What im wondering is, who the hell will be captain next year. The only person with any for of leadership experience in our club is Leadbitter but im unsure whether he will have guaranteed games, so it could be 1 of the new signings.
Portsmouth are welcome to him and his injuries and suspensions. Did alright but not much more. I think Leadbitter will shine when paired with someone who doesn't run round like he's got a wasp up his arse. Onwards and upwards, we'll get someone better in
Do you think he'll play as first XI JWM? If we had St Ledger for example id be partnering him with Delaney. And I'd rather see a quick full back than a converted centre back.
He has the quality and experience so Deffo imo He's only 33! 2 more good years ahead of him just look at Mowbray & Venus both in their mid 30's and played as our first choice Centre Backs! I wouldn't be surprised to see Ivar as our new Captain! Oh I forgot to add my good wishes to David Norris! Good riddance you money grabbing twat!
He will definatly play depends on who else is brought in before Captain's armband is dished out i think.
I liked Norris but we didn't progress much while he was here (not his fault, a certain Mr Keane should take most of the blame). We need to get more creativity in the midfield than we had from the Norris & Leadbitter combo. If Pompey want to give him 3 years then fair enough. Jewell is capable of finding better value elsewhere.
We were all calling him a headless chicken a year ago. He has weighed in with a lot of goals this season though. I just don't buy this extra year thing at all. here's a conversation. SC: 'what's your dream?' DN: 'to be a professional footballer and play in the premier league and play at wembley' SC: 'but you're getting on a bit now' DN: 'I know. Ipswich look like they are going places under Paul jewell, I played there for a few years under hopeless managers but now they have a good one, there's a chance they'll get promoted' SC: 'ok, how about you earn a guaranteed extra million pounds, on top of the 7 million you've already earned, but you have to play for Portsmouth and stay in the championship for the rest of your career?' DN: 'Ipswich will probably give me a new contract with at least another million if I keep playing ok' SC: 'Yeah, but you might play rubbish and get dropped and end up at Colchester' DN: 'true. ok, that sounds good, an extra million is far more important than realising my ambitions'.
